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[Editor's Note: Geekosystem's Glen Tickle is visiting us today. Everyone be nice!] When Alex Trebek appeared on The Nerdist Podcast recently he mentioned he would be open to having a woman replace him as the next host of Jeopardy! when he retires. Here are a few women we think could take the job.
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...and why it's unlikely anyone will actually win it.

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek appeared on The Nerdist Podcast recently. It's a really interesting interview, and if you have an hour and a half to kill, it's a great way to do that. At one point host Chris Hardwick wondered what the theoretical maximum a player could win in one episode was, so we did the math.

Team Ken Jennings Forever.

Earlier this week, we told you that IBM's super-duper super-computer Watson might one day be able to treat cancer patients by analyzing their genes (something Ken Jennings can never hope to accomplish, sadly). But that's the possible future, and who cares about that? Let's focus on what we know Watson is capable of: kicking human butt on Jeopardy.

Essay

Tina Nguyen of our sister site The Braisier achieved nerdvana last night when she appeared on Jeopardy! and was able to show off her smarts and bask in the presence of Alex Trebek. Here she explains how you can achieve the same.
"Oh my god!" people gush whenever they learn that I'm appearing on Jeopardy!. "Are you super smart? Are you like some sort of braniac? Did you tell Alex Trebek to suck it?"
Ideally, the answer would be "Yes, yes, and absolutely." In reality, the answers are "Sort of, Jeopardy! requires more computer-esque skills, and if I had actually pretended to be Darrell Hammond pretending to be Sean Connery, Trebek would probably punch me." What I don't tell them—and what I will reveal to you now—is that it took me four attempts to get on the show. Yes. Four.
This is how I got onto the greatest game show on television, and this is how you can, too.
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If you watch Jeopardy! regularly then you know how the rules work. If you don't watch Jeopardy! regularly, you need to reassess your priorities because you're missing a perfect half hour of television. If a contestant goes into Final Jeopardy with more than twice as much money as their opponents, they can not lose. That was the case last night when Leonard Cooper won $75,000 in the Teen Tournament by giving one of the best Jeopardy! answers of all time, because he knew his answer didn't matter.

If there's one thing watching Jeopardy! over the years has taught me, it's that Jeopardy is super easy, and I would totally win if I ever got the chance to play, just as long as I was playing against members of my immediate family and none of those occasional Bible question categories came up. In other words, I would totally win Jeopardy! Soon, though, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and try out -- again -- for the best game show America has to offer. You can too, if you decide to pit your wits against millions of contestants from across the country and the globe vying to be the next person going "Seriously, you guys, I don't think this buzzer is working!" in front of a live studio audience. Think you've got what it takes? You can prove it online next month. Keep reading to learn how.Read More

Comic book geeks everywhere rejoice, now you can watch an episode of Jeopardy! without pretending you're muddling over the clue like you know the answer. This Thursday, December 13th, the Walt Disney Company is certainly taking advantage of its ownership over ABC and Marvel Comics by introducing a Marvel NOW! category to the quiz show's game board. Because, you know, everybody in America knows the minutiae surrounding the continuity of the X-Men franchise.

Last night, IBM's Watson was crowned Jeopardy!'s first supercomputer champion, scoring $77,147 to Ken Jennings' $24,000 and Brad Rutter's $21,600. On his Final Jeopardy answer, Jennings, the closest thing to a supercomputer champion Jeopardy! has ever had before, graciously congratulated the victor with a Kent Brockmanism, writing, "I for one welcome our new computer overlords."
Also from Jennings: "To the 149 Ken Jennings losers back in 2004: if you are cheering for Watson right now, I forgive you."

Punny questions and determined human opponents may have ground IBM's Watson supercomputer to a tie in the first part of its televised Jeopardy! match, but part two saw it regenerating like an angry T-1000 and blowing its former Jeopardy! champ competitors out of the water. Whereas the score ended at $5000-$5000-$2000 after part one, Watson won the match with a final score of $35,734 to its opponents' $10,400 and $4,800. You can watch Watson's whole remarkable performance below.
Still, there was one odd glitch on Final Jeopardy. You can see what happened at the 6:30 mark of the second video below: